


Fleet Captains and Dishes

by Chibifukurou



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Genre: Gen, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: Kalr Five's visit to the Lord of the Radch's dish storage unit.





	Fleet Captains and Dishes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lorraine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorraine/gifts).



> Kalr Five x Dishes

The Fleet Captain was far better at the expressionless watchfullness, that Captain Vel had been so enamored by, than anyone Ettan had ever known. It reminded Ettan of the videos of ancillaries that she had studied when she had first been assigned to Mercy of Kalr. 

The forced calmness of an ancillary was not a skill Ettan had, before coming to serve with Captain Vel. Seeing it carried off so effortlessly by the Fleet Captain, helped her to understand why Captain Vel had been so enamored by the effect.

The videos had shown hundreds of ancillaries acting as a unit, inescapable, implacable, never ending. No sign of humanity in their face or body. The true power of the Radch made flesh. But the impression had been academic. Far different from the sheer presence the Fleet Captain exuded.

How old was the Fleet Captain? The use of ancillaries had fallen out of fashion in the last half century. There were many about the Fleet Captain. But none of Mercy of Kalr's crew knew where the Fleet Captain was assigned before civil war broke out.

The only thing that the crew agreed on, was that any member of the Mianaai family that was so unknown had to be Special Missions. 

All of the Special Missions officers who had spent time on ships with Ettan, had looked out for no one but themselves. Captains, the good captains anyway, thought of their Ship and their crew.

Ettan had been quietly pleased when Vel had died. She had hoped for a chance to serve a good Captain again.

Pushing such disloyal thoughts away, Ettan concentrated on keeping her expression calm. Eyes up, body held relaxed, and everything working together to project the impression that Ettan had no personal thoughts or feelings. She was not as good at it as the Fleet Captain.

She was so busy trying to get herself back under control, that she did not notice when the Fleet Captain froze and spun on her heel. 

"You have something to say, Let's hear it." Captain Breq barked out.

"Sir." Ettan replied before terror froze her tongue. The term of address ingrained to the point where no actual though was needed. She swallowed the lump that had appeared in her throat. She was not going to express her doubts about Anaander Mianaai's choice in assigning the Fleet Captain to Mercy of Kalr. 

Ettan scrambled to think of anything else she was concerned about, that would allow her to save face. "It's the dishes."

The reply only seemed to anger the Fleet Captain further. She demanded Five explain herself. 

Ettan tried, but the increased demands for an explanation made her instincts scream. Experience said to be silence, orders said to speak. The two warring commands finally made her blurt out. "We can't leave the system with no good dishes!"

The Fleet Captain had ordered all of Captain Vel's belongings to be packed and stored on the station until the Captain's family or House saw fit to claim them.

Packing all of the dishes had been painful. Whatever Ettan's feelings about Captain Vel, she had good taste in dishes.

She’d kept a few of the tea bowls from sets that Vel had broken, either through carelessness or in anger. Ship knew she'd, but the sets had been listed as destroyed. Captain Vel had even ordered them destroyed.

Ship would consider her choice to keep them would be considered as a harmless aberration. Had she dared to keep any of the full tea sets, it would have been a sign of disloyalty instead. 

Fleet Captain Breq's face pinched. Annoyance? Displeasure? Ettan did not know her well enough to read her expressions yet. She forced herself to stammer out an explanation about the honor of the ship. A foreign concept for a Mianaai and a member of Special Missions.

Captain Breq was quiet for a long time. That was a bad sign. Fleet Captain was never without a song.

Finally she spoke, still sounding angry. “Go back to the palace. Tell the Lord of the Radch what you require.” 

As though it was that easy to demand something from the Lord of the Radch. 

Captain Breq continued, seeming not to notice Ettan's discomfort. “When everything is arranged to your satisfaction, come to the shuttle.”

Then the Captain spun back on her heel and headed towards the shuttle. Ettan remained frozen in place trying to figure out if the Fleet Captain was trying to get her killed, until Mercy of Kalr's calm voice came through her implants. “Don't worry, It’s not you Fleet Captain’s angry with. Go ahead. It’ll be all right.”

\- - -

It turned out, that it was not the Lord of the Radch, herself, that Ettan was to meet.

Instead one of the palace aids met her at the palace entrance and showed her to a storage room that seemed to house nothing but dishware of various patterns and styles.

Sometimes, Ettan forgot just how long the Lord of the Radch had lived. Anaander Mianaai was like a Amaat, all knowing, all seeing. A God in human guise. 

Gods didn't collect dishes.

A set of tea bowls, blue black with the iridescent shine of the glassmakers from on of the farthest corners of Radch space appeared as she carefully pulled back the cover on the storage box. They were worth more than she made in five years. And they had been boxed up and set aside like they were some cheap eathernware set picked up on a provincial colony. 

Ettan glanced back at the door to the storage room. The aid had left her here, with only an order to take what she needed. Could she take these with her?

Station would be watching her actions here, but would not interfere unless the aid, herself, ordered Ettan to leave the tea bowls here. 

If anyone accessed the recordings of her here, they would see how much she cared about the dishes. Nerves and being overwhelmed by the beauty of the bowls working together to strip the steal out of her spine and the mask from her face. She could not bring herself to push such softness away.

Her mother had always teased her, for her love of such things. "Give you a proper tea bowl and you will light up like a super nova, my child."

Finally, she forced herself to pack the bowls back into their box, and shuffle them to the middle of the stack of dishware she had chosen for the ship.

The worst that could happen was being told to return the bowls to the storage unit. And the best…. Oh the best…. She would get to see them, touch them, even serve with them if the Fleet captain ever had a small enough party to use only four bowls. 

They would have to be the kind of guests that they wanted to snub as well. 'Look how much more important than you the Fleet Captain is, that the Lord of the Radch gives her such gifts."

She needed to concentrate now, the Fleet Captain would not like if she was forced to wait on Ettan.

Ettan needed to locate another two sets, and quickly. 

The first was a full tea and Arrak set of fifteen, of suitable quality to be used when entertaining Admirals and Captains. Despite her wishes, Ettan would need to pick a set of dishes that were not of high quality.

They needed to be easy to replace at any station. Military women on Arrak so regularly got rowdy, and it would be a shame to have to replace an entire set just because of a few broken pieces they would be hard to replace. 

The second set was for meeting with civilians of higher Houses. Something impressive but not ostentatious. The kind of dishes that would be at home on any House table. 

A sign that the Fleet Captain didn't see herself as above the old Houses. Ettan suspected that the Fleet Captain did consider her better than other Citizens, but telling the truth was not the point of social niceties. 

Carefully, she added a full set of Arrak and Tea bowls with the military seal done in gold and enamel, and a set of delicate rose glass tea bowls to her stack. 

The aid didn't even bother to check what was in the boxes Ettan was carrying. Ettan kept her ancillary like composure and tried not to feel guilty.

If the aid didn't bother to check up after Ettan, than it wasn't Ettan's job to remind her of proper protocol. 

She wished she had been brave enough to take a few more of the sets out of the storage room. 

Still, she did not have time to dwell. The Fleet Captain was waiting.


End file.
